The Immortal Hulk #27 - Marvel Comics

IMMORTAL HULK No. 27, January 2020

Initially splitting his narrative up into three simultaneous segments, Al Ewing’s script for Issue Twenty Seven of “The Immortal Hulk” must have so beguiled his audience with the sinister shenanigans of Roxxon’s super-powered CEO, the alarming worries of Doctor Charlene McGowan concerning the dangers of translocation, and Agent Palicki’s personal issues with an overly-aggressive commander, that the ongoing series saw a remarkable rise of almost five thousand readers in November 2019. In fact, considering what an earth-shattering fight-fest the British author soon transforms this twenty-page periodical into, many Hulk-Heads may well consider “This Is The Day” to be quite simply a perfectly-paced publication featuring Bruce Banner’s alter-ego.

First off is the profound sense of apprehension even the most unsympathetic bibliophile must feel for Roxxon Energy Corporation’s “recent hire”, Higgins, who despite being faced with the Minotaur as his boss, bravely challenges Mister Agger on his “extreme response” to the not “quite so dire” current projections of the fuel conglomerate. Shivering in terror, physically frail and clearly curtailed by the enormous physical presence of the grotesque-looking villain, the old man mumbles his way through a fascinating confrontation which inevitably only leads to one fatal conclusion; “My apologies gentlemen. I found myself in need of a stress ball.”

Likewise, there’s a lot of enthralling entertainment to be had from Ewing’s compelling depiction of life as a super-powered “Roxxon asset” stationed at the West Data Centre in Oregon. Originally confident that having been “bathed in dragon blood” each B.E.S.E.R.K.E.R. “is a match for the Hulk”, it is fascinating to watch as the quartet of misshapen security guards are absolutely pulverised by the titular character, and resultantly soon realise that the order to “defend those servers with our lives” is going to be an infinitely harder mission to fulfil than they were ever led to believe.

Joe Bennett is also on top form throughout this comic, making the book’s dedication to the memory of the Brazilian artist’s son Erik, “who left the world all too soon”, arguably even more poignantly appropriate. Whether it be the fear etched on poor Higgin’s face, the clumsiness of Agger as he tries to sophisticatedly sip tea with his misshapen mouth, or the sheer ferocity in the blows wrought upon his foes by the green-skinned human mutate, each and every panel of this book is packed full of excellent pencilling.

The regular cover art of "IMMORTAL HULK" No. 27 by Alex Ross